Press Release
March 12, 2009

CHIZ: PUT TORTURERS AWAY FOR LIFE

Senator Chiz Escudero on Thursday said torturers must be put away for life as he pushed anew for the passage of an anti-torture bill pending in Congress in the light of the brutal killing of the daughter of a communist rebel leader in southern Mindanao.

"Torture and other cruel and inhuman acts have no place in a civilized society. I call on my colleagues in both houses of Congress to once and for all criminalize and penalize these acts," Escudero said in a statement.

"The immediate passage of this bill becomes more urgent with the brutal killing of Rebelyn Pitao. We have to act now for torturers have, for so long, acted with impunity," he said.

Escudero, chair of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights, said the consolidated anti-torture bill he authored along with Senators Jinggoy Estrada, Miriam Defensor-Santiago, Juan Ponce Enrile and Rodolfo Biazon had already been approved in his committee and is now in the period of interpellation in the Senate floor.

Under Committee Report No. 28 , torture that leads to the loss of life and the commission of sexual abuse, as in the case of Pitao, and those committed against children are punishable by reclusion perpetua or life imprisonment.

Other penalties range from a minimum of 6 months to a maximum of 12 years depending on the gravity of the offense.

The bill defines torture, involuntary disappearances and other cruel and degrading treatment or punishments, and penalizes the perpetrators of such acts. It also provides for the protection of complainants and witnesses and persons involved in the prosecution and the establishment of a rehabilitation program for victims.

The 20-year old Pitao is the daughter of Kumander Parago, head of the New People's Army's Pulang Bagani Command. She was abducted by unidentified armed men while on her way home from St. Peter's College in Toril District in Davao. She was later found dead in a ditch, her body showing signs of torture, strangulation, rape and stabbing.

Escudero reiterated his call for the capture of Rebelyn's killers, saying those responsible should be made to answer for their atrocious acts.

Under the bill, no justification can be offered to justify torture and other inhuman punishments, which will be declared as criminal acts. Persons who participate in acts of torture will be penalized as principals, as well as their superiors in the military, police or law enforcement establishments who ordered the infliction of physical harm to any victim.

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